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CUBA: 

A LAND OF STARVATION AND SORROW. 



"For Cuba the present is dark and foreboding; but we must not forget that 
God reigns, and that the mighty sweep of human progress will not rest until 
oppression and cruelty are overcome and the aspirations and hopes of all 
people struggling for better conditions and a higher life are realized. Poor 
Cuba ! Crushed and bleeding, I commend her to the great heart of the Ameri- 
can people." 



SPEECH 



OF 



/ 



HON. JACOB H. GALLINGER, 

OF- NEW HAMPSHIRE, 



SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 



Wednesday, March 23, 1S98. 




WASHINGTOM. 

1898. 






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SPEECH 

OF 

HON. JACOB H. GALLINGER. 



AFFAIRS IN CUBA. 

Mr. GALLINGER. Mr. President, after the calm, dispassion- 
ate, and touching statement made in the Senate concerning Cuba 
by the distinguished Senator from Vermont [Mr. Proctor] it 
might be well for me to remain silent; indeed, Mr. President, that 
was my purpose when 1 returned from the island, but yielding to 
the expressed wish of many of my Senatorial colleagues, I have 
consented to give a plain recital of what I saw during my recent 
brief visit to that unhappy country, in the hope that it may add 
something to the already deep interest felt by the masses of the 
American people in the struggle now going on 80 miles from the 
American shore. 

Neither the criticisms, many of them utterly unkind and un- 
just, which have already been made regarding that trip, nor the 
fear of the denunciations of the apologists and defenders of Spain 
will deter me from plain speech or the expression of views quite 
as honestly held as those of the men and newspapers who indulge 
in the senseless cry of "jingo " whenever a word is uttered in favor 
of freedom and independence for a people who for three centuries 
have been oppressed beyond endurance. In 1829, in 1844, in 1848, 
in 1850, in 1851, in 1868, and again in 1895 have the brave people 
of Cuba endeavored to break the chain that bound them and to 
establish for themselves free government on the soil that right- 
fully is theirs. The failure of the ten-years war, ending in 1878, 
is fresh in the minds of us all, and the violation of the promises 
made by Spain to the insurgents as a condition of peace is a 
matter of history which need not be recounted. 

For many years I had felt a desire to visit Cuba, and when the 
opportunity offered for me to go in the company of some of my 
Congressional associates I was glad to do so, as it would enable 
me to see with my own eyes the devastation and wretchedness 
that I believed existed in that fertile but smitten land. 

After a somewhat tempestuous and eventful voyage Havana 
was reached on the morning of the 10th instant. Looking out 
through the mists of early morning, Morro Castle, with its gloomy 
memories, and the fortress of Cabanas, within whose walls hun- 
dreds of brave and innocent men have been shot to death, stood 
out in bold relief. The beautiful harbor was entered, in which 
were many vessels flying the Spanish flag, while the Montgomery 
alone had at its masthead the Stars and Stripes — glorious emblem 
of freedom and liberty. No, not alone, for as our vessel passed 
the wreck of the great battle ship that so recently was destroyed 
an American flag floated from her also. 

3162 3 



A CALL UPON GENERAL LEE. 

Very soon after our arrival General Lee called upon us at the 
hotel, and graciously offered to accompany the party to the palace 
to meet General Blanco. General Lee is deserving of the highest 
possible praise for the manner in which he carries himself in 
Havana. Cool and fearless in the midst of difficulties and dan- 
gers, he never loses sight of the fact that he is an American citi- 
zen and the representative of this great Government, nor is he 
ever unmindful of the tremendous responsibilities and duties of 
his position. 

A VISIT TO THE PALACE. 

The visit to the palace was one of much interest. At a former 
period General Blanco was Captain-General of the island, and he 
is held in high esteem by the Spanish Government. When he 
assumed office this time it was as the successor of General Weyler, 
who, because of his cruelties, was driven from Cuba by the force 
of American public opinion. General Blanco was gracious in the 
extreme, and Dr. Congosto (who speaks most excellent English) 
showed the party many courtesies. Of course no allusion was 
made to political affairs. 

THE AUTONOMIST CABINET. 

Our next call was upon the autonomist cabinet, but we only 
saw the president of the cabinet. With him we discussed some- 
what the question of autonomy; but it was plain to be seen that 
he was not greatly encouraged in the work that had been under- 
taken in that direction. The truth is, autonomy is a fiat failure, 
opposed alike by the ultra Spaniards and the Cubans. The lead- 
ers of the insurrection have not forgotten how they were cheated 
by Spain in 1878, and the blandishments and bribes now being 
offered them are spurned with contempt. "Better death than 
autonomy, " said a leading Cuban to me, "for," he added, "auton- 
omy is only a pretense, Under which we would again be slaves to 
Spain." 

IS THERE "WAR IN CUBA? 

I recall the fact that in the debates had in the Senate on the 
Cuban question there have always been those who have denied 
that a real state of war exists in the island. It does not take long 
for one on the spot to determine that war does actually exist. A 
desolated country and a stricken people tell the story of war in 
language more eloquent than I can use. It is a peculiar kind of 
war, not the kind that this country became acquainted with at 
Shiloh and Vicksburg, at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, and 
which General Sherman summed up in those three laconic words, 
"War is hell." It is not the kind of war that Grant and Lee, 
Sherman and Jackson, Sheridan, Longstreet, and Logan partici- 
pated in from 1861 to 1865. In Cuba it is a war of starvation and 
extermination — a war more cruel than any the world has ever 
known. 

THE SPANISH SOLDIERY. 

The Spanish military do not impress an American with the idea 
that they are great soldiers. I witnessed three military drills, and 
in each case the story of the "Awkward Squad" came vividly to 
my mind. Talking and smoking in the ranks were noticeable, 
and neither officers nor soldiers seemed to possess the true mili- 
tary spirit. It is said that the rank and file of the Spanish army 

3162 



have not been paid for six months, and they certainly are poorly 
clothed and inadequately fed. The high officers appear to do most 
of their fighting in cafes and hotels, the actual fighting in the 
field being done under the command of officers of inferior grade. 

THE INSURGENTS. 

As to the insurgents, it is said that they are well fed and com- 
fortably clad, their chief lack being guns and ammunition. They 
are good soldiers, under strict military discipline. They occupy 
a large part of the island, and, in my judgment, can take Havana 
or Matanzas whenever it suits their purpose, but for want of 
ships they could not hold those cities if taken. In Matanzas I 
was offered safe passport to the insurgent lines, but it was de- 
clined for want of time. 

TERRIBLE SCENES. 

The scenes in the streets of Havana are harrowing beyond de- 
scription. People in want and suffering are everywhere seen, 
and walking skeletons meet one on every hand. Naked children, 
emaciated and ragged women, and diseased and starving men 
throng the streets, the hotel lobbies, and every place of public re- 
sort. It is a terrible sight, one that sickens the heart, and quick- 
ens every impulse of human sympathy and love. 

I have said in the public prints, and I repeat, that the Kingdom 
of Spain is carrying on a war in Cuba more utterly cruel and 
indefensible than any that the world chronicles, unless perchance a 
parallel may be found in the oppressions that the Armenians have 
suffered at the hands of the Unspeakable Turk. My observations 
were first made not in the rural districts, where the most horrible 
conditions are conceded to exist, but right in Havana, under the 
shadow of cathedrals and churches, where Spain's authority ia 
absolutely unquestioned. The world has heard with horror the 
story of the starvation of hundreds of thousands of innocent peo- 
ple on this island, but while the statement has been generally ac- 
cepted as true, there are those who have refused to believe that a 
great Government was waging a war of extermination instead of 
a war of honor, conducted upon the high principles of humanity 
and bravery, yet such is the fact. 

CLARA BARTON AND HER GOOD WORK. 

In my investigations I visited the orphanage under the care of 
that sainted woman, Clara Barton, who is being ably assisted by 
Dr. A. M. Lesser, surgeon in chief of the Red Cross Hospital of 
New York City, and his accomplished wife. It was also my great 
privilege to meet there Mr. Louis Klopsch, proprietor of the Chris- 
tian Herald, under whose efforts the money has been raised to 
carry on Miss Barton's Heaven-inspired work, and who receives 
help and encouragement from his wife, who is there in person to 
do what she can to alleviate the terrible suffering that exists. 

In connection with the orphanage a dispensary is maintained, 
Dr. Lesser being ably seconded in that work by a corps of Cuban 
physicians, and every day hundreds of poor creatures are assisted 
in that way. At present the orphanage contains about fifty chil- 
dren, almost every one of whom is the victim of starvation, suffer- 
ing from diseases directly traceable to want of food and imperfect 
nourishment. Dr. Lesser has had experience in the famine in 
Armenia, and I believe in India, and is recognized as the highest 
possible authority on diseases of that kind. I have it from his 
3162 



6 

lips, and also from Miss Barton's, that the famine in Cuba is 
worse than was that in Armenia or any other of which they have 
knowledge, and the pictures that they drew of the terrible suf- 
fering from starvation in the island fully confirm what has been 
written on the subject by those whose statements have been chal- 
lenged in some quarters. 

HUMAN SUFFERING IN ITS WORST FORM. 

For most of my life, as a physician, I have witnessed human 
suffering, but pictures of wretchedness and anguish were photo- 
graphed upon my brain in Cuba that will never be effaced. After 
the visit to the orphanage was over I went with the medical gen- 
tlemen and others to Los Focas, the place where the reconcentra- 
dos assemble daily to get food and shelter. There is a large side 
yard, which was filled with men, women, and children, a motly, 
dilapidated, hungry-looking crowd. But sad as was the crowd 
outside, it was nothing as compared with that inside the building. 
The structure is 108 by 40 feet, two stories high, and when a few 
weeks ago Miss Barton discovered the place there were 645 people 
lying on the floor, many of them entirely nude, and all suffering 
the pangs of starvation. 

The children in the orphanage were taken from that wretched 
abode, and much has been done by the Red Cross to alleviate the 
condition of those who remain. Cot beds have been furnished, 
clothing supplied, plain food distributed, medical attendance ar- 
ranged for, and every effort is being made in their behalf. Still 
there are men, women, and children there as gaunt and bony, 
almost, as a skeleton, while the sores that come from insufficient 
nourishment, and the other deplorable effects of starvation, are 
seen on every hand. I looked upon the scene until heartsickened, 
and then I thought of the hundreds of thousands of poor creatures 
who have perished in this island for want of food since the order 
was issued by Weylerto drive them from their homes and concen- 
trate them in the cities. 

What a chapter of horrors and death is that! And still the 
tragedy goes on. How much longer it shall continue largely de- 
pends upon the forbearance of a great people who through suffer- 
ing and sorrow achieved their own independence, and whose sym- 
pathies have always gone out to the oppressed of all the nations 
of the world. 

In brief, that tells the story of what was seen in Havana, except 
that the picture is mild, and in the very nature of things fails to 
reveal the horrible, inexpressible sufferings of those poor, perse- 
cuted people. 

Many sights were witnessed which could not properly be related 
in this presence. Certain American newspapers have been per- 
sistently charged with coloring the facts and giving false informa- 
tion to our people. I do not see how it is possible for human lan- 
guage to exaggerate the suffering that, exists in Cuba, and cer- 
tainly the newspapers that are spending enormous sums of money 
to keep the American public informed as to the situation deserve 
praise rather than censure, for otherwise no information what- 
ever favorable to the Cuban cause would come to us. Spanish 
censorship could be relied upon to give only one side of the con- 
troversy. The New York Journal keeps a large steam tug and a 
yacht employed in making daily trips from Havana to Key West 
bearing dispatches, and I am informed that that enterprising news- 

3162 



paper is spending $1,000 a day in that service and in gathering 
news on the island. 

A VISIT TO MATANZAS. 

Desiring to see something of Cuba outside of Havana, a visit to 
Matanzas was decided upon. 

Matanzas is reached from Havana by both water and rail. I 
chose the latter, notwithstanding the suggestion that the insur- 
gents were not far from the railroad, which was emphasized by 
the fact that an armored car, occupied by Spanish soldiers, was 
attached to the train. The distance is about 60 miles, which is 
covered in three hours by a railroad the trains on which are 
started by the ringing of a bell in the hands of a sturdy negro, 
and the track and rolling stock of which suggest antiquity rather 
than the ideas of our modern civilization. 

The road runs through a beautiful valley, with mountain ranges 
on either side, which were pointed out as the abode of the insur- 
gents. Over the entire distance is seen the effects of war, scarcely 
any cultivated land being visible, and the charred remains of 
villages and sugar plantations telling the story of devastation and 
destruction. 

At one point 6 soldiers and about the same number of civilians 
occupied the site of a village of 2,000 inhabitants at the beginning 
of the war, only one or two buildings remaining to tell the story 
of the struggle that has been waged for three j^ears. 

Burning cane fires not far from the railroad indicated that the 
insurgents, and possibly the Spanish soldiers, were busy. Indeed, 
only a few evenings ago an insurgent force captured a large herd 
of horses and cattle in the outskirts of Matanzas, while the Daunt- 
less discharged her last cargo of insurgent material literally in 
the harbor of that city. 

I was fortunate to have as traveling companions Congressmen 
Amos J. Cummings, of New York, and William Alden Smith, 
of Michigan; also Clara Barton; J. K. Elwell, of Lawrence, Kans.; 
Dr. and Mrs. Lesser, of New York; Dr. Hubbell and Mrs. Ward, 
of Washington; Mr. Louis Klopsch, proprietor of the Christian 
Herald, and other philanthropic persons. Senators Thurston 
and Money went to Matanzas by water. 

All along the route were wretched people in rags, but not until 
Matanzas was reached was the full extent of the existing suffering 
realized. 

The railroad station was crowded with poor creatures, many of 
them nearing their graves as a consequence of starvation and re- 
sulting disease. Men, women, and children jostled and crowded 
one another begging for help. Some of the children were entirely 
without clothing, while most of them were covered only in part, 
and that with ragged and dirty garments. The same condition 
of things was seen on the streets, and the hotel lobby exhibited 
other scenes of similar destitution. 

DANTE'S INFERNO. 

It occurred to me as I looked upon these scenes of suffering and 
horror that the Cuban reconcentrados might well have adopted 
the words of Dante, "Who enters here leaves hope behind," when 
they were driven from the fields and herded like cattle in the cities 
and towns of this fertile land. 

The truth is that Weyler devised a scheme of human suffering 
and sorrow that put Dante's Inferno into the shade and converted 

3162 



8 

a contented, prosperous people into a herd of suffering, starving 
unfortunates. 

True, it is said that under the present regime they are per- 
mitted to resume work on the land, but careful inquiry failed to 
discover that this is really so, and even were it so, how could 
starving, penniless men and women, with sick and emaciated 
children, find their way to their former homes and take up the 
duties of life, with their houses destroyed, their farm implements 
gone, their live stock driven away, and every means of supporting 
life taken from them by the cruel edict of a merciless tyrant? 

In Matanzas I met an American citizen at the office of the 
United States consul who one year ago was worth $150,000, but 
who to-day is utterly penniless. He was driven from his home 
into the city, his buildings destroyed, and the accumulations of a 
lifetime disappeared. Recently he was told that he could return 
to his land, which he did, engaging in the manuf acttire of char- 
coal; but scarcely had he commenced work when his property was 
again seized and he was returned to the city, inside of the line 
called the "zone of cultivation." 

A day in Matanzas is one never to be forgotten. The city nes- 
tles by the bay, just as it did before it was smitten by famine and 
when commerce and trade made it one of the most important 
ports of Cuba. To-day the bay is deserted, except by ships bring- 
ing relief to the starving people. 

A PLACE Or BEGGARY AND DEATH. 

Matanzas is literally a place of beggary and death. Never be- 
fore did my eyes behold such suffering, and never again do I 
expect to see such havoc wrought through a cruel and inhuman 
decree. 

After a call on Consul Brice, whose good work in Matanzas is 
known and recognized everywhere, the company were driven to 
the palace of the governor of the province, where they were re- 
ceived most graciously. The present governor is Cespedes de 
Arnos, a well-known journalist, and a man who seems to fully 
appreciate the appalling condition of the people. 

He was especially kind and courteous to Miss Barton, placing 
at her disposal one of the finest apartments in the palace; and the 
other members of the family were equally devoted to this good 
woman. 

The governor talked freely of the situation, tendered the party 
a reception that was declined, and when he proposed a toast to 
"Hail Columbia" it was evident that his eyes are turned in the 
only direction whence help can come to this stricken people. 

Governor Arnos succeeded Senor Paret, who served under Wey- 
ler, and who is remembered as a cruel, brutal man. The present 
incumbent of the office, while serving the Spanish Government, 
is unquestionably very solicitous for a betterment of the condi- 
tion of the people. 

Returning from places of public resort, the party visited three 
hospitals, named, respectively, Providencia, Caridad, and San Car- 
los, and here were fresh evidences of the ravages that starvation 
is working. 

Some members of the Red Cross had visited the hospitals two 
weeks ago, but they were terrified to discover that almost every 
one of the then inmates had died, and to some extent others had 

3162 



taken their places. Here poverty, sorrow, and suffering were de- 
picted in their worst forms. Children, gaunt in face but with 
abdomen and limbs terribly swollen, women in the last stage of 
emaciation, and men rapidly drifting to death were on every hand. 

HOSPITALS WITHOUT FOOD OR MEDICINE. 

If there was food in these hospitals I did not discover it. Nei- 
ther were there signs of medicine or of proper nursing or care. 
As these unfortunates lay there, suffering the pangs of hunger, 
an abundance of food was at the railroad station, sent there by 
Miss Barton more than a week ago. but which through some mis- 
take had not been distributed, and the Fern and one other Ameri- 
can vessel were lying in the bay loaded down with contributions 
from the Government and people of the United States. 

CLARA BARTON. 

I wish I could command language eloquent enough to pay a just 
tribute to Clara Barton, the guardian angel of oppressed, suffering 
humanity. More than 70 years of age, when the cry came from 
far-off Armenia she was soon in that stricken land, carrying the 
ministrations of the gospel and distributing benefactions under 
the aegis of the Society of the Red Cross. More than three-score 
and ten years of age, she has again responded to the Macedonian 
cry, and is in Cuba relieving suffering and sorrow — a very angel 
of mercy and of human love and sympathy. God bless Clara 
Barton! 

DEATH THE ONLY RELIEF. 

For a large proportion of tho remaining reconcentrados death 
is the only relief. Food and medicine may palliate for a time the 
suffering they endure, but starvation has done its work, and the 
grave will claim many of them in the near future. 

From the hospitals I went to the huts on the outskirts of the 
city, occupied by the families of reconcentrados, and here again 
is material for the artist and the novelist. In huts of one room, 
thatched with palm leaves, are families of eight or ten eking out a 
miserable existence. They were driven out of their homes when 
the plan was adopted to exterminate the Cuban race by starvation. 

In their suffering and wretchedness they appear cheerful, occu- 
pying a portion of the time in making palm-leaf hats, for which 
there is a very limited demand at 6 cents each. Of course the chil- 
dren beg to help supply the absolute necessaries of life. 

TERRIBLE DEATH RATE. 

In this sketch I have not attempted to picture the extreme hor- 
rors of the situation, but rather to give a plain and tmvarnished 
statement of what is seen at every turn. The death rate here, as 
elsewhere on the island, has been enormous. The governor of 
Matanzas told me that the first day he occupied the palace 15 per- 
sons died in the courtyard. He further said that in that city 1,200 
died in November, 1,200 in December, 700 in January, and 500 in 
February. 

The death rate is decreasing simply because the material— the 
reconcentrados — is becoming less. Estimating the population of 
the city at 75,000, and taking a death rate of 20 in 1,000, that would 
give 1,500 deaths in a year. 

But here we have 3,600 deaths in four months, more than seven 
times that of a normal death rate, and the sad thing of it all is 
3162 



10 

that the excess above the average rate shows the number of deaths 
from starvation, and from nothing else. 

On the cars I was told that in San Cristobal one coach, used as 
a hearse, had carried to the cemetery 800 dead in twenty-six days, 
while many uncoffined dead were disposed of in other ways; and 
in another place of 3,000 inhabitants, Santa Cruz del Norte, not 
far from Matanzas, every dog and cat has been eaten, and utter 
desolation confronts the place unless relief comes soon. 

The mayor of this town was in Havana, and he is responsible 
for the statement I have made. He begged Miss Barton to go to 
the relief of the place, which she promised to do, but God alone 
knows how much good it will do under the circumstances. 

A WORSE FAMINE THAN THAT OF ARMENIA 

Miss Barton says that this is a worse famine than that of Arme- 
nia or India. In India famine came because of crop failures, and 
in Armenia as the result of religious fanaticism, but here in Cuba 
is a famine of cold calculation, with fertile land on every side, 
ready to produce abundant food in response to the demand of 
human labor. 

That labor has been withheld, in accordance with the programme 
laid down by a heartless military ruler, and now the lands are 
uncultivated and the people starving. 

NEARLY HALF A MILLION DEAD FROM STARVATION. 

The number of people who have been starved in Cuba will 
never be definitely known. It is estimated that 800,000 were 
driven from their homes into the cities and towns. I had it from 
Spanish authority that according to their figures 225,000 have 
already perished; but it is said that the Hed Cross Society is in 
possession of figures showing that 425,000 Cubans have died as a 
result of Spanish cruelty from starvation, and that 200,000 more 
must inevitably die, making an aggregate of 625,000, or almost 
twice the population of the District of Columbia or the State of 
New Hampshire. Dr. Lesser, an authority on the results of fam- 
ine, who is on the ground, says that of the 175,000 not taken into 
the account above at least 5 per cent of them will die, making a 
grand total of 634,000 deaths of men, women, and children as the 
result of Weyler's inhuman and barbarous decree. 

What a picture is that 80 miles from our shores! And yet this 
great nation folds its arms and officially asks, "Am I my brother's 
keeper?" 

Thank Heaven, the Government of France did not reason that 
way when Lafayette stood side by side with Washington and 
Stark and Mad Anthony Wayne when our forefathers were fight- 
ing for human freedom and independence! 

It may be that the G-overnment of Spain and the cities of Ha- 
vana and Matanzas are doing something to relieve this terrible 
suffering, but if so, I did not see any evidences of it. The hope of 
the poor remaining sufferers is in this great Government, and, 
Heaven be thanked, our people are reaching out the hand of sym- 
pathy and affectionate interest in the shape of food, medicine, and 
clothing! 

WHAT OP THE MAINE? 

I have been asked many times, "What of the Maine?" 

I do not know. 

This, however, I do know: A nation that will deliberately starve 
400,000 of its own people will do pretty much anything. [Applause 
in the galleries.] 
3162 



11 

If the ship was blown up from the outside, what should our Gov- 
ernment do? 

Perhaps I should forbear to discuss that question now, but this 
I will venture to say: Human life, purposely taken, can not be paid 
for in gold or silver. [Applause in the galleries.] Mark my 
words, "purposely taken." And if it shall appear that such was 
the fate of 250 brave American sailors, then Heaven pity the 
guilty parties. It will not be a question for arbitration, but a 
question involving the dignity and honor of this great Republic. 

A JINGO. 

Of course for these words I will be called a jingo, whatever that 
may mean, but, as I have said on former occasions I now repeat, 
I would infinitely rather be a jingo than a Tory: I would infinitely 
rather stand here as the defender of human rights than as the 
apologist of cruelty and oppression. A vigorous foreign policy 
is necessary to the strength and dignity of any nation, and it is 
the best possible assurance of peace that can be given. 

CUBAN' SYMPATHIZERS EVERYWHERE. 

There is little real loyalty to Spain in Cuba, as will be demon- 
strated when the hour of trial comes. Cuban sympathizers are 
found everywhere. On the cars between Havana and Matanzas 
a prominent business man of the latter city openly expressed his 
deep sympathy for Cuba, and drawing from his pocket a little 
package asked me if I would not like a picture of Gomez, the 
grand and intrepid leader of the Cuban army. The picture is 
here — a treasure with which I would not lightly part. 

I do not believe that Spain can subdue the insurgents. 

Already the war has cost Spain the lives of at least 100,000 
soldiers and a vast amount of treasure, and the approaching rainy 
season will decimate the Spanish ranks at a fearful rate. 

The Cubans have been oppressed so long that they prefer death 
to continued Spanish rule; and why should they not? 

EFFECTS OF SPANISH RULE. 

Mr. President, has this Senate any idea what Spanish rule in 
Cuba really means? 

Let us look at the matter of taxation. 

I was told by reliable persons in Havana that, in addition to all 
direct and indirect taxes on real estate, there is a tax on every 
door, every window, and every chimney in every house. 

There is a tax on every letter in every business sign. 

-There is a tax on every name on every hotel register. It is an 
edifying sight, Mr. President, to open the register of any hotel in 
Havana and, glancing down the page, to find a tax stamp opposite 
each signature. 

Licenses are required to build houses and to paint houses. 

There is a tax on food animals as a whole, and also special taxes 
on the horns, the hoofs, and the hide. 

In addition to all this the interest on the debt is a tremendous 
burden, the salaries of Spanish officials are beyond all reason, and 
the amount of money wrung from the Cubans to keep the Madrid 
Government from complete insolvency is simply enormous. 

What would we think of such a Government as that? 

No people on the face of the earth have been so oppressed, the 
treasury of Spain being literally supplied from the revenues ex- 
torted from Cuba and the Philippine Islands. 

Mr. President, as far as I know no one in this country desires 
war with Spain, but the people of this country have come to the 

. 3162 



- 12 

conclusion that the time has come for Spain to retire from the 
Western Hemisphere. [Applause in the galleries.] She has by 
misgovernment and cruelty forfeited every claim upon the Gem 
of the Antilles, and in the interests of a common humanity this 
country should intervene and stop the war. 

SPAIN'S POSSESSIONS. 

It will be remembered that one hundred years ago Spain owned 
a large part of what is now the United States, all of Mexico, most 
of Central and South America, and many of the West India Islands. 

Within a hundred years, as the result of misgovernment and 
misrule, she has lost all of her territory on the Western Hemi- 
sphere except the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico, and if anyone 
can tell me why she should be allowed to longer retain control of 
Cuba, the information will be gratefully received. I certainly 
know of no reason. 

I may be wrong, but it seems to me that it is a reproach to the 
civilization of the age that a bankrupt and corrupt Government 
like Spain should be permitted to hold in bondage on this conti- 
nent a people who have aspirations for the same liberty that we 
enjoy. 

Our forefathers went to war because the mother country put a 
tax on tea. 

Cuba has ten thousand more reasons than we had for rebellion, 
and she deserves the sympathy and help of every true American. 

A MATTER OF HISTORY. 

If I have read history correctly, not since the downfall of the 
Roman Empire has there been such a story of the rise to great- 
ness and the fall to helplessness of a great power as in this in- 
stance of Spain. It is one of the striking coincidences of history 
that Spain to-day, finding herself menaced with the loss of her 
last American possessions through a conflict with the great Amer- 
ican Republic, dates the beginning of her power from the year 
1492, in which year the discovery of Columbus led to the ulti- 
mate establishment of the United States. 

The year which gave the Western Hemisphere to Spain wit- 
nessed the expulsion of the Moors from Grenada and made all 
the Spanish possessions one united country. Her first King, Fer- 
dinand of Aragon, whose marriage with Isabella of Castile in 1469 
marked the beginning of a real Spanish Kingdom, was also the last 
Spanish King, for at his death, in 1516, the succession passed into 
the lines of the Hapsburgs, with sad and melancholy consequences 
for the civilized world. 

During the four hundred years of Spain's rise and fall her inva- 
riable record has been one of cruelty, of persecution, of bigotry, of 
hostility to every sentiment of human freedom, common justice, 
and enlightment. The slavery to which she doomed her subjects 
in the Western Hemisphere was not more cruel than her oppres- 
sion of Holland or her tyranny over her own people at home. The 
bigotry, the fanaticism, the intolerance, and the gloomy supersti- 
tion of her tone of mind are unrelieved by one single gleam of 
recognition of human rights, just as the disgraceful record of her 
decay and downfall is unrelieved by one single triumph of genius 
in statesmanship or of prowess in battle against an armed enemy. 

One after another Spain's possessions have fallen away, like 
bricks from a moldering wall, until to-day she stands alone, bank- 
rupt in resources, but still clinging to that policy of cruelty, of 
oppression and extermination, which has been her only known 
S1C2 



13 

method of dealing for four hundred years, until finally forced to 
confront the Republic of freedom, of equality, of justice, of hu- 
manity, of civilization. 

Mr. President, it is not accident or chance which has brought 
about the present situation. It is inexorable destiny, which de- 
crees that the last of Spain's ill-gotten possessions in this hemis- 
phere will be lifted to freedom by the one Republic which represents 
everything that Spain has antagonized during her whole history. 

Fortunately the people of this great Republic are thoroughly 
aroused to the situation, and the great heart of the American pop- 
ulace is in full sympathy with Cuba. 

Religion and humanity alike demand that this unholy war shall 
cease, and cease it should, even though the glitter and glamour of 
military rule shall end and a decaying and dissolute throne shall 
pass away never to return. 

THE REMEDY. 

Mr. President, I am asked what I would have done. 

The question is one demanding an honest and careful answer. 

The Senator from Vermont closed his speech by a declaration 
that he does not favor annexation; but for myself, looking to the 
demands of advancing civilization and the future peace and pros- 
perity of the island, I am of opinion that sooner or later this great 
Government will of necessity absorb Cuba. And if it is to come, 
why not now? 

It is argued that we do not want territory peopled by a race dif- 
ferent in nationality and habits of life from our own. Is it for- 
gotten that when we absorbed California, Florida, and Texas that 
same problem confronted our Government? The problem was 
soon solved, and who dares now say that California, Florida, and 
Texas are less American than Massachusetts, Virginia, and New 
York? Ours is a great country, of marvelous resources and in- 
finite possibilities. We are once more a united people, and it is 
utterly idle to say that we can not successfully govern an island 
that is practically a part of our own territory. To doubt our 
ability to do that is a reflection upon the strength of republican 
institutions that I do not share. 

But, Mr. President, if annexation can not be accomplished, let 
Cuban independence speedily come. American interests in Cuba 
have already suffered enough. We have patrolled our coast in 
the interest of Spain as long as we should, and we have spent 
quite too much money in protecting our people from epidemic 
diseases coming to our shores because of the unsanitary condition 
of the harbor and city of Havana. Spain has failed to meet the 
requirements of an age of advanced civilization. Let the United 
States or Cuba take up the problem and solve it. The vigor 
shown by our early statesmen in dealing with Spain in relation to 
the acquisition of Florida is a precedent that may well be invoked 
in this crisis, for no one now hesitates to commend the action of 
Monroe and Adams in dealing with that problem. 

Mr. President, for Cuba the present is dark and foreboding, but 
we must not forget that God reigns, and that the mighty sweep 
of human progress will not rest until oppression and cruelty are 
overcome, and the aspirations and hopes of all people struggling 
for better conditions and a higher life are realized. Poor Cuba! 
Crushed and bleeding, I commend her to the great heart of the 
American people. [Applause in the galleries.] 
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